People Are Still Good
by Hallow Sisters On My Mind
Summary: Esmerelda is Ethel's guardian but that does not mean things are easy. One day the most unlikey people help them and they realise there are still good people in the world. WW 2017. Oneshot.


A/N: I have a whole story about Esmerelda being Ethel's guardian and this is a idea based on that though it is not related to 'A Home At Last. Hope you enjoy and The stargate time traveler this one is for you!. I do not own the Worst Witch or the characters.

* * *

 **People Are Still Good**

Ethel picked up a pack of her favourite biscuits and threw them in the trolley happily, that is until Esmerelda took them out again.

"Ethie don't keep putting things in the trolley, I made a list of stuff we actually need" Esmerelda told her sister as she pushed the trolley and sighed taking the biscuits out.

"Esmie, I know they are bad for your health but please" Ethel begged Esmie really wanting them.

"Ethie...I don't have enough money to buy you treats, I barely have enough for a carrier bag, sorry" Esmerelda told her with a sigh.

Ethel years ago would have had a tantrum but she had changed a lot recently and knew her sister struggled with money so she shrugged and followed her down the aisle.

Esmerelda had become Ethel's guardian exactly four months ago, but because she had taken her sister and sided with her sister, their parents had cut them out of everything, including all money, so that is why Esmerelda had had to take three jobs in order to provide for them, but she could not work many hours as she had Ethel so they were struggling with money, not that Ethel ever went hungry though. Esmerelda always made sure of that.

"You know it is ironic isn't it?" Ethel spoke sending her sister out of her thoughts.

"What is?" Esmerelda asked curiously as she picked up a carton of milk and put it in the trolley.

"We go from shopping in Waitrose to shopping in Aldi, I mean we can't even afford Asda anymore" Ethel told her sister as they walked.

Esmie sighed as she really did not need Ethel to remind her of that.

"But is is okay, shopping trips with our parents were torture and they always brought odd food" Ethel then said as she saw her sisters face drop, she really was not trying to make her feel bad she was just pointing it out.

"Like caviar" Esmerelda commented joining in now she knew Ethel was messing.

"Oh don't, I still have nightmares after trying that" Ethel said flinching as she said it.

Esmerelda laughed and looked at Ethel before she spoke.

"Make yourself useful, go get a loaf of bread" Esmerelda told her sister.

"You trying to get rid of me?" Ethel asked pretending to be insulted.

"Maybe" Esmerelda replied before laughing, Ethel walked off holding her head high as she went to get the item they needed.

Ethel picked up a loaf of bread and turned around to walk back to her sister when she spotted someone at the other end of the aisle. She gasped and ran back to Esmerelda at full speed throwing the bread in the trolley and looking panicked.

"What is wrong?" Esmerelda asked as she stopped wheeling the trolley to talk to her sister.

"Mildred flaming Hubble is here" Ethel replied clearly panicked, and she became more panicked as Mildred and her mother walked down the aisle getting closer to her and Esmerelda.

"Oh no, quick hide me" Ethel said hiding behind her sister

* * *

Esmerelda turned slightly to talk to Ethel when she was suddenly interrupted.

"Esmerelda, hi there" Mildred said stopping next to her with her mother next to her. Esmerelda smiled looking at Mildred awkwardly.

"Are you here alone? "Did you lose Ethel?" Mildred asked with a chuckle. She knew now that Esmerelda was her guardian, the whole school did, and she had seen her a few times up at the school since then.

Ethel suddenly sneezed and Mildred looked behind Esmerelda wondering what on earth Ethel was doing.

"What on earth are you doing?" Mildred asked her blonde haired classmate, Ethel had to think fast and ended up making herself look crazy.

"I was just...hugging Esmie" Ethel said as she wrapped her arms around Esmerelda, Mildred nodded in confusion.

"Oh..right" Mildred replied confused. Julie smiled looking at the girls, she knew the whole story now thanks to Mildred and had spoken to Esmie once at parents evening.

"How are things?" Julie asked them kindly.

"Oh great, busy but great thank you" Esmerelda replied smiling. Mildred took the opportunity to glance in their trolley as her mother spoke with Esmie and noticed all the stuff they were buying was either the cheapest brand or on offer, when Mildred looked up and saw Ethel glaring at her as if daring her to say anything, Mildred gulped and looked down.

Being essentially poor had definitely shown on Esmerelda and Ethel, they used to be famous for their clothes which were clearly more expensive than Mildred's whole flat, now their clothes looked..normal to say the least as if they had gone to primark or something, not that Mildred would say anything bad about that, she wasn't exactly rich either.

Julie and Esmie made awkward conversation for a few more minutes until the sisters and the mother and daughter walked in different directions to carry on their day.

"Well that was embarrassing" Ethel said as soon as they had gone.

The sisters finished their shopping and then went to pay, when Esmerelda gave the cashier some coupons she looked at her as if she was not going to take them as she was wasting her time, but she snatched them and started to put them through the till, Esmie said nothing, she was more than used to by now people judging her so she walked off and packed with Ethel before leaving the shop.

* * *

Mildred and her mother loaded the shopping bags into the boot of the car and then Julie looked at her daughter and smiled.

"Will you do me a favour and put the trolley back love?" she asked her daughter. Mildred nodded with a smile walking to the trolley bay with the trolley.

As she turned to go back to the car a short distance away she saw Esmerelda and Ethel again both with their brooms hovering, Mildred wasn't worried, there was spells to prevent them being seen but she then realised something...where were they going to put the shopping.

Esmerelda soon answered her question, she tied the handles of the bags around the broomsticks and Mildred wondered how they would get home with so much weight pulling them down. Ethel it seemed, hated this.

"Esmie it is always heavy" Ethel told her sister with a sigh as she saw what she was doing.

"It can't be helped Ethie" she told her sister as she kept tying the bags on the broomsticks, Mildred had no idea what came over her but she found herself running towards them.

"Wait" the brunette shouted not caring how many looks she was getting for basically talking to air, well at least to strangers she was.

"Oh hi again Mildred" Esmerelda said to the girl with a smile.

"You can't seriously be carrying that on the broomsticks" Mildred replied

"Yes we seriously are" Ethel replied saracatically.

"Let my mum give you a lift before you end up hurting yourselves with that weight" Ethel told the girls, she had not asked her mother yet but she would do that later.

"That is okay, thank you Mildred" Esmerelda replied not wanting to put her mother out, Mildred took the shopping of the broomstick and ran off.

"MILDRED" Ethel shouted running after her, Esmerelda grunted and lowered the broomsticks before following finding the girls arguing.

* * *

"Ethie calm down" Esmie told her sister seeing her shouting at the brunette.

"She stole our food!" Ethel replied angrily. Mildred walked to the boot and put the bag in.

"I knew there was no other way that you would agree to this" Mildred said taking the remaining bags of a shocked Esmie before she carried on "You will get it back" she told Ethel in amazement.

"Look we really don't need a lift we will be fine" Esmerelda replied not wanting Julie to have to take them home, she was highly embarrassed.

"It is fine, please I insist" Julie said.

* * *

Esmie and Ethel got in the car then mainly because they wanted their food back, Julie got in the drivers seat and cheerily said, 'belts on'.

Esmie and Ethel looked at each other wondering what on earth she was talking about.

"What now?" Mildred asked. Why did they both have to be so stubborn?

"Erm...we have never being in a car before" Esmerelda replied turning red. Mildred gawped at her amazed as did Julie.

"Oh well...it is easy,.. above your head you should see a metal thing, pull it down and over your stomach and put the metal bit in the black insert next to you" Mildred said trying to explain as best as she could when both girls continued to look confused Mildred showed them with her own belt and after a bit of fiddling the both of them did it. Julie asked Esmerelda for their postcode, entered it in the satnav and drove off.

The drive was silent for a long while until Julie and Mildred sang some songs, neither sister joining in with them though. After a while, Julie looked in her front view mirror worried.

She saw Esmerelda looking out the window wearing a look she couldn't place and she also saw that the girl had a protective hand on her sister's knee which only worried Julie more, did the girl think she was going to harm Ethel or something? Though Julie realised she should not be shocked, Ethel had had to move out and in with her still teenage sister at the age of fourteen, Julie had no idea what had happened in their house to make that occur, but she did understand why it made Esmerelda much more protective.

"So how is school?" Julie asked trying to start a conversation with the girls. Ethel looked up and replied blushing.

"It is good thanks..." Ethel replied without looking up, Julie sighed and decided to try with Esmie instead as she realised she was getting nowhere with the youngest.

"Do you go to college?" Julie asked the girl, Esmerelda looked up.

Esmerelda had gotten her powers back after she was able to extract them back from Agatha after a few months, as she had gotten her powers back she was at witching college, her missed schooling had not really affected her luckily as she had already being miles ahead of her classmates.

"Yes, thankfully our holidays are the same as Cackles" Esmerelda replied to Julie

"Yes that is very good" Julie replied with a smile.

"You know, you are quite silly for trying to fly home you know, why did you not get a bus?" Mildred suddenly asked from the passenger seat.

"We would have no idea how to get a bus" Ethel replied rudely "And even if we did ...we have no money for one" Ethel uttered under her breathe but Mildred heard and suddenly felt really bad and a awkward silence hang in the air.

"Don't your parents have loads of money?" Mildred then asked knowing this question could have her cursed but she wanted to know. Her mother gave her a sideways look as in scolding her.

"Yes, but when I left with Ethie our parents disowned us, Sybil is going to inherit everything now" Esmerelda replied to Mildred and Julie tutted before she spoke.

"Have you being working then?" Julie asked Esmerelda wondering how she was supporting herself and Ethel.

"Mmm" Esmerelda replied "I have three jobs but they don't pay much" Esmerelda told Julie with a sigh.

Julie understood the problem, as Esmie was still in college she was not qualified so the girl could not get a high paying job right at this moment, Julie was going to say something but a bleeping noise stopped her, Esmerelda pulled a mobile out of her pocket and Mildred stared at her amazed.

"You have a phone?" Mildred commented amazed the girl had one.

"Yes, I needed a way for my bosses to contact me" Esmerelda simply replied. Mildred took a closer look at the phone and realised it was ancient, it had a number keypad and was a flip phone, though it was probably really advanced to Esmie, Mildred had to refrain from giggling as she watched the older girl text, she was texting like her mother does with one finger, not like a teenager at all.

As Esmerelda spoke to her daughter, Julie took the opportunity to glance at Ethel slightly worried in the back of her mind she was not being looked after properly, not purposely but because they were such short on money. Julie was a nurse and had seen malnourished patients time and time again, but when she glanced at Ethel her worries melted away. The girl was not painfully thin or pale she had plenty of colour to her face and seemed to be healthy and not suffering from hunger, if one thing was for sure Esmerelda was making sure Ethel got fed.

Nothing else was said throughout the journey because minutes later Julie parked the car outside a dreary looking bunch of flats which looked really run down, much worse than Mildred's. Esmie and Ethel got out the car before Mildred or Julie could comment and went to the boot waiting for their bags.

* * *

As there was quite a few bags and they were heavy Julie offered to help, so Esmie unlocked the door of their flat and Julie and Mildred walked in kind of hesitantly.

Julie had expected a run-down old looking flat from the inside but the inside was so much different. The walls were painted a lilac colour and the flooring was also purple but a darker shade. There was not much furniture, a cream sofa, a small TV, a DVD player and a dresser with a few ornaments on it.

Julie smiled as she saw the walls and dresser littered with photos of all three of the sisters, making the flat from just a flat into a home, just like her own flat. Esmerelda walked away through a door to put the shopping down and Mildred noticed that there was only three doors, kitchen, bathroom and a bedroom she assumed but did that mean the girls had to share a room?

"Thanks for the lift" Ethel said sending Mildred out of her thoughts. The younger blonde was bright red clearly embarrassed, especially now her sister had walked off and left her with them.

"No problem, I was happy too" Julie told Ethel smiling at her, the girl was not tormenting Mildred as much nowadays, which said a lot about Esmerelda's parenting skills compared to her own mother, so Julie left it at that.

"This place looks really nice" Mildred said honestly, it definitely felt like a home here.

"Thanks, I am so glad it is not a mansion, it used to take half a hour to find my sisters sometimes depending on where they were" Ethel admitted glad she was in a smaller place and did not have to work through countless rooms to find anyone or anything.

Esmerelda walked back in the room then at that moment and she walked over to Ethel wrapping her arms around her neck before she smiled.

"Would you like to stay for a drink or something?" Esmerelda asked wanting to be a good host.

Julie had to admit. She had had worried before, but Ethel was clearly getting fed and by the casual way Esmerelda hugged her so naturally and the way Ethel moved into her embrace happily told Julie that the older girl truly did love Ethel and was serious about looking after her, but the girls were just getting things sorted and Julie did not want to impose on them, especially when they clearly were struggling still, she didn't want to drink their drink when they had so little already.

"That is alright, thank you for the offer but I think we will pass for today" Julie told the older girl with a smile before something came to her. She pulled out a piece of paper and a pen which she always carried on her, a habit from being a nurse, and jotted something down before handing it to Esmie, who took it but kept one arm around Ethel.

"My mobile number, if you need someone to look after Ethel or something on short notice, or you need to get somewhere and need someone to take you I will be happy too" Julie told Esmerelda wanting to help her in someway, she was on her own and she knew how hard it was for her being on her own with Mildred, let along a teenager by herself with her sister.

Esmerelda looked at the paper in disbelief as if she had forgotten there was helpful, generally kind people in the world, everyone who should have helped her left her so this was not surprising.

She let go of Ethel and walked to Julie looking like she was about to burst into tears at such a gesture.

"Thank you for this" Esmerelda said with a grateful smile.

Julie shook her head and pulled the older girl into a hug wanting her to know that people really did still care.

"You are doing a great job" Julie whispered to her so that the other two could not hear.

The two pulled away, Esmerelda beaming at what the woman had said before Julie glanced over and saw Mildred and Ethel both wearing identical looks of confusion.

"Right well, that will be all I think, don't hesitate to call me" Julie told Esmerelda with a smile and she could see Esmie relax slightly more as she was reassured Ethel would have somewhere safe to go if it came to it. Julie knew that feeling well, it was hard to find people to babysit, especially someone you really trusted.

"Thank you so much, bye" Esmerelda said as the two girls waved at the door of their flat as Mildred and Julie got in the car.

"I am glad Ethel got a home at last" Mildred commented as they got in the car.

Julie turned the key in the car before talking with a smile.

"So am I Mildred" Julie said as she drove away happy that she could leave Ethel in such a good home and happy she had helped Esmerelda even by offering her the peace of mine Ethel would be looked after and safe if she ever needed her to be.


End file.
